Pubdate: Fri, 16 Apr 2010
Source: Record Searchlight (Redding, CA)
Copyright: 2010 Record Searchlight
Contact:  http://www.redding.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/360
Author: Tim Holt
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Cannabis - California)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)

DUNSMUIR TO LOOK INTO MEDICAL POT CULTIVATION

About 45 people packed the Dunsmuir City Council  chambers for a 
public hearing Thursday night on whether  the Siskiyou County town 
should adopt medical marijuana  cultivation regulations.

The hearing was sparked in part by Mayor Peter Arth's  proposal to 
build three greenhouses to grow medical  cannabis across from the 
Siskiyou County sheriff's  substation in downtown Dunsmuir. Arth 
plans to lease  three plots he owns to Leslie Wilde, who runs a 
medical cannabis dispensary a few blocks away.

Wilde says the greenhouse operation would provide a  safe supply of 
organic marijuana for her members, who  number about 50 "regulars." 
Arth, who's a medical  marijuana user himself, promotes the 
greenhouse project  as a much better alternative to "black market" 
supplies  of the drug, whether grown in Mexico or the hills 
of  Siskiyou County, often with the use of toxic  pesticides.

After a 90-minute, heated discussion, the council voted  3-1 to form 
a subcommittee to look into the issue of  how marijuana cultivation 
should be regulated in the  town. Arth's was the only "no" vote. He 
said the town  doesn't need such an ordinance.

"Of all the issues competing for the council's  attention, I'd say 
this one is at the bottom of the  barrel," he said later. "It 
wouldn't have even come up  if we hadn't made our proposal."

The other council members disagreed.

"This issue is divisive. The town is split on this,"  said 
Councilwoman Helen Cartwright, who suggested  during the meeting the 
issue be tabled until November,  when the state's voters will decide 
whether to legalize  marijuana.

Councilwoman Cherie Du Pertuis concurred that the city  should take 
its time. "This all needs to be carefully  considered. There's no 
need for haste on this matter."

Councilman Mario Rubino said he was concerned that if  quick action 
wasn't taken to establish cultivation  guidelines, medical marijuana 
cultivation could expand  and be unregulated.

But Thursday's action is unlikely to affect Arth's  proposal, city 
attorney John Kenny said Friday. "There  was no ordinance regarding 
cultivation before" the  meeting or after, he said.

Before the meeting, Dunsmuir city staff moved Arth's  proposal to the 
Planning Commission, scheduled to  consider it May 5, Kenny said. The 
public hearing was  on whether to pursue a cultivation ordinance, not 
on  Arth's specific proposal.

About 20 people spoke at Thursday's meeting, some  staunchly opposed 
to allowing medical cannabis  cultivation and others who support it. 
Two speakers  called for the mayor's resignation.

Among those opposed was Phyllis Wood.

"This town is starting to get back on its feet after a  long time 
(being viewed as) a 'drug town,'" she said.  "This (project) is 
taking a wrong turn."

A number of residents said they worried about placing a 
marijuana-growing operation in the town's historic  district, 
adjacent to its main street, where many of  the town's teenagers hang 
out after school and on  weekends.

Mary Ann Kikerpill, who depends on medical marijuana to  relieve some 
of the pain from Stage 4 breast cancer,  called the greenhouse 
project a "controlled and secure"  alternative to the prospect of 
marijuana patches  sprouting up all over Dunsmuir.

Jesse Tolen, who described himself as a decorated and  wounded vet 
with combat-induced kidney stones and lung  disease, also spoke in 
favor of the project.

"We need to give it a chance," he said.

A number of opponents of the mayor's project said they  support the 
use of medical marijuana, but emphasized  their concern over the 
project's location and its  impact on the town's image.

John Villani of the Siskiyou County Sheriff's  Department raised the 
possibility of renegotiating the  sheriff's contract with the city if 
the project goes  forward.

In an interview after the meeting, he said he worried  about 
attempted burglaries of the facility and the  possibility of illegal 
growers targeting the facility  as a competitor, with deputies having 
to deal with  "whoever gets caught in the crossfire."

"This issue is divisive. The town is split on this."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom